Powercreep has gotten too far
Before the end of book 7, the whole appeal of this game was being able to make any of your favourite characters into a powerhouse through investing skills and resources. This appeal is completely gone now since powercreep has gotten to its worst in years, as only new units can beat new units and all older units basically get melted, unless you provide them with all the latest skills AND an ungodly amount of support. Also the game lacks so many QOL features that make it difficult for new players to start and lead the game feeling repetetive and monotonous for the playerbase. It's obvious that IS is just trying to milk out as much cash from this game now and don't really care about the playerbase anymore.